“Ready?” Calder says, holding the phone up.
He snaps five photos in rapid succession before any of us have even looked his way. “Calder…” Mina fusses, “Do a count!”
“Fine. One, two, say…‘Calder’s the best!’”
“Calder’s an ass.” Damien flashes a toothy grin, making us all laugh.
Of course that’s the shot Calder takes.
“I give up.” Mina sighs, then turns to look at me as the guys check out the pictures. She hasn’t released her hold on my waist, so I smile down at my little sister and niece, thankful we’ve worked out our issues. “Thank you, Seb,” she says, her brown gaze misting. “From the bottom of my heart. Thank you.”
“I wish your time with her could’ve been longer,” I say, but she quickly shakes her head, blonde curls swinging.
“No, I’m thanking you for being my brother so many times over. I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me and Josi.”
“You’re welcome, but your thanks aren’t necessary.” I release her and tickle Josi’s belly until she bursts into giggles. “You’re my sister. End of story.”
Mina laughs along with Josi, then sobers. “You truly are the best, Seb. I’m happy you found someone who’s equally as worthy.”
The doors begin to open to the church and an older woman in a stately gown walks through, announcing, “Everyone, if you wouldn’t mind taking your seats. The ceremony will begin in ten minutes.”
Movement in my periphery draws my attention. Cass is waving from a side door on the left. She’s staring directly at me with an intense, no-nonsense look on her face. “Ahem, it’s tradition to already be in your places, wedding party peeps.”
I shoot Calder a look of triumph as she disappears behind the door. He shakes his head in a fast jerk. “Doesn’t count. Not about our wedding.”
“Technically, there’s still plenty of time.”
Calder flashes an assured smile. “I’ll measure your office while you’re on your honeymoon. You know, so I can be ready to move in.”
“Move in? What are you two talking about?”
“Nothing,” Calder and I say in unison.
Smiling at Mina, I say, “See you up front.”
My sister waves and hands Josi off to Adam before heading for the door Cass came through.
Adam settles Josi on his hip and nods to me before walking inside the church with his granddaughter. The silent exchange felt strangely personal. With just a look, I knew what he was saying. You’re welcome for the extra men. Keep her safe and happy. We’ll talk later. BLACK Security owes me a contract. My father and I are starting to get each other more and more.
Right behind my father, I see Talia’s aunt walk into the church with her favorite foodie friend and sidekick, Charlie. I’m glad he’s with her. The guy seems to have a sensible head.
I pass Talia’s father on my way to the side door on the right. He’s saying goodbye to a blonde woman who appears to be a dozen years his junior. “I’ll meet you up front in just a little bit, Simone.”
As she walks into the church, he holds his hand out to me. “Well, Sebastian…it’s almost that time.”
I clasp his hand with a firm grip. “Thank you for being here for Talia, Kenneth. It means a lot.”
He shakes my hand, a wide smile on his face. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for a father to give his daughter in marriage to a man he already knows loves her unconditionally.”
I smile. “Can’t argue with you there.”
I move to release his hand, but he tightens his grip. “I would tell you to take care of my girl, but you’ve proven you’re more than capable. May you have the kind of marriage I wish I’d had...long-lived and well-loved.”
“Thanks, Kenneth.”
Releasing my hand, he heads for the door on the left.
I wait until he closes the door behind him and one of my guards steps in front of it before I open the door on the right to make my way to the front of the church.
I’ve impatiently waited through one song for the bridesmaids and groomsmen to take their places, and I’m pretty sure I’ve ground through the top layer of enamel on my back teeth while listening for the wedding march to start.
When the organ sounds echo up to the rafters and the church doors slowly swing open, I almost fall to my knees at the beautiful sight Talia makes standing up front with her father.
As they proceed forward and Den closes the door behind them, standing guard the moment it’s shut, the crowd buzzes with titters and awed appreciation for Talia’s break from tradition with her wedding attire. While more than a few ladies quietly clap as she passes, the lump in my throat grows bigger.
She’s wearing an off-the-shoulder, mermaid-style wedding gown in white that forms to her curves, but my adoring wife has also incorporated a bold red sash across her small waist.
With each step she takes, I can see the rounded edges of the big bow tied at her back and my throat starts to itch and my eyes burn.
I don’t know how the woman always surprises and humbles me at the same time, but she’s done it in such a deeply personal way that I’m so fucking glad the aisle is long and the song is slow because I’m going to need the time to get my emotions in check.
Talia finally reaches me as the music ends, and once Kenneth kisses her on the cheek and takes his seat, I take her hand to help her stand in front of me.
Before Pastor Meyer starts to speak, Talia curls her finger for me to bend close.
I lean forward, thinking she’s going to break tradition yet again and kiss me, but she plucks the earpiece from my ear and turns it on and speaks into it, loud enough for our family and friends to hear. “Love you guys. See you at the reception.” When she turns it off and drops the piece into my coat pocket, then pats it with a determined smile, the entire congregation uproars with laughter. While the pastor raises his arms to get them to settle down, Talia whispers, “This color is called red wine.”
“May I continue now, Talia?” Pastor Meyer says.
As she nods for him to proceed, I’m floored yet again that the sash she’s wearing is the one from our table-top wine tasting session. Her sparkling eyes shift back to me and I enjoy the hell out of her secret smile, returning it in kind.
“Sebastian and Talia are already married, but they wanted to reaffirm their vows here and now with their loved ones present, since family and friends are important in their daily lives.” The pastor turns to me. “You may begin, Sebastian.”
I take Talia’s hands in mine and lift them to kiss the ring on her finger, speaking so everyone can hear. “When I gave Talia this ring, I never wanted her to remove it, which is why she’s still wearing it today. I told her then that I would love and protect her, but never smother her, and I chose a ring with a moving center band that represented my promise to be together but independent.”
Talia’s eyes mist a little as I speak.
“Talia, you’re always thoughtfully bold and I’m forever in awe of your ability to be compassionate no matter the circumstance. You are the one who keeps me in check and balanced in both life and love, the person who has made me a better husband, brother, and son.
“Since you already have your ring, I had a wedding gift all planned, but recent circumstances gave me an opportunity for a present that I hope will have an even deeper meaning.”
I reach in my coat pocket. Lifting my hand up, I dangle an updated version of her Two Lias heart locket. Talia gasps and captures the spinning heart. Her eyes glitter with tears of happiness as she stares at the tiny red and black diamond encrusted centers of the two hearts on the front of the locket. “It’s perfect, Sebastian.”
Smiling, I clasp it around her neck.
When she lifts her happy gaze to mine, my heart feels full. “Your ring might mean together but independent, Little Red, but since we’ve been together, I have learned that I am dependent on you for my happiness. There is no independent for me, not anymore.”
Talia’s lips
tremble, but she can’t hold back her tears. As I smile at her and gently thumb the wetness away, the pastor smiles and looks at her. “Your turn, Talia.”
Talia nods and sniffs as she takes my hands in hers. I can feel her shaking, so I squeeze her hands to encourage her.
“You are the bravest man with the biggest heart, Sebastian. I love every stubborn, bull-headed, never-quit, hard-working, family-loving part of you.” She glances down at her ring then back to me. “I don’t know if you noticed but the red diamond center band on my ring doesn’t spin any more.”
When I frown, she shakes her head. “I could’ve had it fixed, but I felt it was appropriate. See, at first the band spun freely, later it turned much slower, then it took real effort to get it to move at all, and I realized that my ring is following our love. I’m no longer able to see my life without you in it, nor do I want to. We’re stuck together. You are the center of my happiness, Sebastian.”
Talia has never spoken so deeply about her feelings before and it’s hard for me not to let my emotions cloud my vision. Thankfully she saves me from making a complete wuss of myself when she dips her fingers into the folds of her red sash and pulls my ring out.
“Finally,” I mutter as she slides it on my finger.
Talia addresses our loved ones watching from the pews. “Yeah, finally. This man’s been going around without a ring for way too long!”
While laughter echoes throughout the church and among the wedding party, she looks at me. “Now you’ll never be without color in your life.”
Very few family and friends know the true meaning behind her comment, but I’m so moved by her sentiment, I glance down at the ring. When all I see is black, frustration rises over my colorblindness, but I tamp it down and lift my gaze to hers.
Talia’s smile is so heartfelt as she continues to hold the ring on my finger. “But even then, Sebastian, you’ll have to know where to look.”
She glances down once more and I follow her gaze. My loving wife slowly spins my ring around until I see what looks like a sunrise against a dark sky across the side of the band. I can see the striation of gray scale color changes, and then once the colors move into the red spectrum…those colors I can see, but the romantic memories a sunrise evokes are priceless.
When she lifts my hand and kisses the ring, I’m fucking done. A tear escapes before I can hold it back.
Everyone begins to clap, but the pastor raises his hands to shush them.
Once they quiet, Talia takes my hands in hers. “I love you, Sebastian Quinn Blake. I’m honored to be your wife and so happy to have another chance to stand up in front of friends and family and promise to always love you and keep you in our hearts and minds.”
While Talia holds my gaze, my brain stutters over her binding vow.
Just as I give her a questioning look, she lowers my ring hand to her belly and repeats, “Keep you in our hearts and minds.”
Holy fuck! “Are you serious?” My heart skips a beat and I quickly clasp her face, not caring one whit that a couple more tears escape.
When Talia wraps her fingers around my wrists and nods, the cheers and claps spread around the room to the shocked, but happy relatives in our wedding party, and then even to our stoic pastor, who throws his hands up and grins wide, joining everyone else in celebrating the news.
With the sound in the room rising to near-deafening level as people begin to stand in front of their pews, I pull my wife close and press my nose to hers, my hands shaking with elation. “You never cease to shock the hell out of me, Little Red. God, I fucking love you.”
Chapter 20
Talia
“Do you think Cass will forgive me for keeping this a secret?” I say as we step into our bedroom. I’m not surprised Sebastian didn’t want to stay at the reception partying all night long, but I am a little surprised he brought us home to our apartment instead of the lush hotel Cass had booked for us. “It’s just that I did spend all last night with Cass having fun girl talk about all kinds of things. And she did help plan my wedding as well as help me get dressed for the wedding and—”
“The question you should be asking is: ‘Would Sebastian forgive me if I told Cass about my pregnancy before him?’” He shrugs out of his tux jacket and pulls his bowtie, unhooking his top collar button before sitting down on our bed. “And the answer is most definitely ‘no’. Your husband wouldn’t have forgiven you if you had told Cass before him.”
“But you’re okay that you learned at the same time as everyone else?” I ask, my voice a quiet hush. I know I took a big gamble, but I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for much longer. My breasts were already getting bigger. “I mean, I know how much you hate the anticipation of surprises—”
“Talia…” Sebastian pulls me onto his lap, resting his hand on my thigh. “I’m not angry or upset. The reason I brought you here instead of to the hotel before we fly out tomorrow on our honeymoon is sheer selfishness. I want to spend a night with you all to myself and in our own bed as the newly minted, family-approved Mr. and Mrs. Blake.”
I touch his ring, running my fingers over it. “But you wished I had told you alone?”
He lifts my chin and makes me meet his gaze. “You made this day a memory I’ll never forget. And for that, I love you…” He lowers his hand to my belly. “And our baby. I’m thrilled, proud, and so fucking happy right now. Your aunt and father seemed very excited about the baby at the reception, probably more so than the wedding.”
“Yes, they were happy,” she says, nodding. “And how about him bringing Simone as his plus one.”
“Who is she?”
“She’s the new girl he hired to help out with his ads and with other stuff in the bookstore.”
“Well more power to him,” he says chuckling.
I shrug. “It was just surprising for sure.”
He flexes his hand on my stomach. “Speaking of surprises…how far along are you?”
“Almost eight weeks.”
When his brow shadows, I press my lips to it and whisper, “I waited for an appointment with the doctor I really wanted.”
He scowls. “No OB/GYN should make you wait that long to be seen.”
“It wasn’t his fault. The home pregnancy tests were wonky so I waited until they seemed consistent. You don’t want to know how many I went through.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Everything is perfect. My levels are right where they should be.”
“All the little things…You falling asleep early, eating extra pieces of pizza—” His eyes light up with clarity. “—you getting me to drink your wine…now it’s all suddenly falling into place.”
“I don’t even want to talk about the bouts of queasy stomach,” I say wryly. “As for the wine, you do know that was more about getting you to relax, right?”
“I definitely got the relaxing part,” he says, flashing a grin. “About your doctor appointments, you’re not going to any more without me. I want to see the little noodle.”
Laughing, I rest my hand over his. “Noodle? What is it with you and food nicknames?”
“It’s Noodle until I see for myself and inspiration strikes.”
When I smile at the idea of him seeing our baby for the first time, his gaze drops to his hand on my stomach. I lift his hand and turn his ring until we can see the sunset. “Do you like your ring?”
“To say that I don’t think you’ll ever be able to top everything you did to make today extra special is an understatement, sweetheart.”
His broad smile makes all the trouble I went through getting his ring made, having the sash added to my dress and waiting to announce my pregnancy all worth it. “I wanted your ring to be in the best metal, so I chose platinum, but I also wanted it to be black. I did some research and found a college that’s using cutting edge technology with a tabletop laser to change the color of metals.”
He stares at my ring, intrigued. “So that’s not painted?”
“No, all
those colors are part of your ring. A breathtaking sunrise is forever etched in your band, Mister Black—”
His lips cut me off, but I don’t mind his sudden kiss one bit. Instead, I lean into his hard chest and welcome the enticing taste of his lips and tongue sliding along mine in a slow, deep exploration.
“I love kissing you,” he murmurs against my mouth, his hand sliding into my pinned up hair to pull me closer.
“We can just do this all night if you want,” I tease against the corner of his mouth.
His hand fists in my hair and he nips at my bottom lip. “Hell no, I’m just getting started.”
I cup his jaw and bite his bottom lip back, loving my husband so much my heart feels it might burst right out of my form-fitted dress.
My skin prickles when he tugs my dress’s zipper down. He pauses when he reaches the zipper’s end, his voice a rough rumble. “Unless you want your wedding dress in tatters, I suggest you step out of it and hang it up, Little Red.”
As Sebastian walks into our closet, unbuttoning his shirt, I kick off my heels and wiggle out of my dress, laying it across the back of a side chair.
Wearing nothing but a G-string and garters, I walk over to the Two Lias picture on the tall dresser and stare at it as I take off my necklace. “I hope I’m a good mom.” My lip crooks in a half smile. “At least Sebastian isn’t afraid to change a diaper. There’s always that.” But the fact my husband is so good with Josi settles my worries. Sebastian will be there for me. He’ll help me get through any baby blues I might have after our child is born. I can only hope I’m not affected that way, but with my mom’s history, it’s still in the back of my mind. “You’ll watch over us, right, Amelia?” I whisper as I start to drape the necklace along the corner of the picture.
“You don’t have to take it off,” my husband says from right behind me. I immediately tense.
“How do you manage to get so close without me noticing?”
“Trade secret.” He chuckles as he leans close, the heat of his bare chest warming my back. “This version is waterproof, so you can wear it in the shower if you like.”
Black Platinum (In the Shadows Book 6) Page 17
